Asymmetry
by Silje Oxenstierna
Summary: After an attack back at the village, Kyo and Misao, along with the daitengu, return to deal with the recent uprisings. Seven tengu dead, several more injured - and one of them is the person who should have finally replaced 'Soujou.' But something wants to devour Misao, and surely Hoki can't be 'just friends' with the injured tengu.
1. 0: Prologue

**Hi! I've been reading Black Bird for a while now, and I've finally realised: I have fallen in love with Hoki. :) So here's a Misao/Kyo, Hoki/OC - since he doesn't get enough love in the story!**

* * *

_Asymmetry - Prologue_

_"Today."_

* * *

In the middle of a warm Saturday, Misao went over to the mansion to visit Kyo. When she slid the door open, she found the room occupied with the Daitengu, who all smiled at her welcomingly. They were…playing mahjong?

"Ah, hello," she said nervously, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Is Kyo here?"

Zenki nodded, jerking a finger in the other direction as he furrowed his brow at the thirteen tiles in front of him. "What is this mess?" he exclaimed. "I didn't have this one before!"

Buzen chuckled. "You just took that one from the wall, you idiot."

Misao had never played mahjong before, and Jiro, sitting where he was, looked plain bored as Zenki tried to figure out which one to discard. He yawned loudly, stretching his back and patting his knees, waiting for Zenki to move so his turn could come. Carefully, Misao came up behind Jiro and placed her on his lap. Then she examined the mahjong tiles before her, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Can you play mahjong, hime-sama?" Hoki inquired politely.

"Ah, no, I've never played before," Misao responded distractedly. The nine of circles was distracting her.

Zenki turned to Misao as he triumphantly cast out a one of bamboo. "Would you like to learn?"

"Sure!" she said, smiling. Kyo probably was busy right now—she could kill some time. She tried to ignore her mind nagging her about homework.

"Let's finish this round—" Zenki said, just as Jiro yelled, "Win!", grabbed the tile, and cast down his entire line of tiles.

"_What?_" Zenki exclaimed. "What the hell were you looking for? From your discards—" He stopped short when he saw Jiro's tiles. "_Thirteen Orphans?"_

If thunder could make its presence known on a clear day with blue skies, it would at this very moment, as Jiro stared Zenki down with an evil smile on his childish face. "Hand it over!" he gloated, and Zenki stuck his tongue out, handing Jiro a chip from the bag.

They started jumbling the tiles again, putting everything in a nonsensical order until there were four walls of eighteen rows assembled on each side, forming a rather rickety square. Hoki smiled at Misao from directly across the table. "This time, I am playing east. So I am the one who rolls the dice." He held up two battered and weathered die and threw them into the square.

Misao watched the dice stop, summing up to eleven. She nearly jumped with surprise when Hoki extended his hand towards her. She started to back away, but Zenki laughed and held her arm in place.

"It's okay, hime-sama. He's simply taking the tiles."

"T-Taking the tiles?"

Zenki reached towards Misao's row of eighteen as well and took a set of four. "Of course. We have to build up our hand somehow." He smiled.

Jiro stretched, got up and bowed, said, "I have to go attend to dinner now!" with a cheerful smile, and left the table.

"Ah…" Misao said, waving bye to him. "…But I don't know how to play…"

"That's why we're here to teach you!" Buzen said cheerfully. "It's not hard."

Misao took a set of four from the wall as well, upturning one of the tiles. She stared at it oddly. There was an image of a chicken—or was it a turkey?—engraved on the surface. "What is this?" she asked.

"We should probably explain the different suits," Hoki mused. He placed another turkey tile at the front. "This is the one of bamboos. There are four of these tiles, as there are four of any of the distinct tiles that you see in your hand."

"There are two other suits," Buzen added. "Characters and circles." He held up two of the aforementioned pair—a one of circles and seven of characters. "Four of these as well. If you look at your hand and find you have two of the same tile, know that there are only two more out there."

Just hearing this made Misao's head swim, but she nodded. "Okay…"

Zenki discarded an east wind. "There are four of these as well."

She stared at her hand of tiles with a frown. She had three of the one of bamboos, so it would be all right to discard one of them…right? Zenki scrutinized her moments slowly. Her hand came to a stop, as she slid her fingers up and down the tile line, on the one of bamboos and placed it before her.

"Ah, hime-sama, the goal is to have three of a kind, or three in ascending order, and at least one pair."

"What?" she said lamely, staring at it. Then she looked at her tiles.

A five of bamboos, six of bamboos, four of bamboos, a red, a green, a west wind, a one of characters—ah, this was all so confusing!

"I don't know what I'm doing," she admitted, sitting back and sighing.

The door slid open, and all four of them turned to look at the entering party. Sagami stepped inside first, his eyes closed, face contorted in worry. Kyo, on the other hand, stepped inside with somewhat of a light step, a smile on his face—that immediately shattered when he saw Misao.

"What are you all doing, teaching her how to play mahjong?" he exclaimed, astonishment showing on his face.

Zenki snickered. "She wanted to learn!"

"Misao, you wanted to learn how to gamble?" Kyo continued, in disbelief.

Misao felt the blood flood from her face. "G-Gamble?"

"Mahjong is a gambling game," Hoki explained softly. "We weren't using money as a medium—simply chips, since Jiro wanted to play."

"If we actually used money, he would have gotten us insolvent," Zenki mumbled. He held up the near empty bag of chips. "He ate almost _all of them_."

"You ate the rest," Buzen noted, laughing.

"You two didn't win a single round?" Sagami questioned, kneeling down beside Hoki with a slightly dubious expression. "Hoki, I'm surprised."

"Hoki gave all of his chips to Jiro," Buzen explained. "And Zenki glared at me until I gave him mine."

Hoki shrugged. "I never did like chips."

"He came in second place," Zenki mumbled, placing another chip in his mouth. Then he extended the bag towards Misao with a winning smile. "Chip, my lady?"

Zenki went tumbling across the room, courtesy of a fuming Kyo. "How dare you make advances on _my_ wife!"

"Why the hell do you always assume I'm making advances on the princess?"

The entire room was enveloped with shouting, laughing, and exasperated sighs as Misao stared at the scene before her in bewilderment.

"They usually act like this," Buzen explained.

"Since Kyo-sama is busy quarrelling, I shall have to deliver the news," Sagami said irritably. "We are going back to the village again. This morning, we received news of an Ubume clan attack at the edge of the mountain. The patrol was ambushed, and unfortunately, a certain person came out with a severe injury from a minor head wound."

"…Not her," Hoki muttered under his breath.

Misao turned to him questioningly as Sagami continued. "The person that we would have requested to join the Eight Daitengu was this person."

Hoki's shoulders slumped, and Misao assumed it was in relief.

"_Was?_" Misao echoed. _Is he dead then?_

"Now, with that wound, that person cannot accept."

"What is it?"

"Deteriorating eyesight."

Kyo came up to them, with Zenki as well, a grimace on his face. "So, a trip must be planned immediately. We'll be staying there for several days—maybe even weeks, to determine the situation. We do need a replacement for 'Soujou', contrary to what I've said before, and that injured person is the perfect person for the job. _Was_, either way, if what they say is true."

_Another visit to the mountain? _Misao thought nervously, gripping the hem of her skirt. To think that she had only come here to ask him to accompany her on a date…

Kyo smiled apologetically at Misao. "I know that this is unexpected, but I hope you'll come with me again."

"I'd be glad to!" she exclaimed, seeing the almost resigned look in his eyes as if expecting her 'No.' "When do we leave?"

"Today."


	2. 1: Chapter One

**Here's the actual first chapter! I hope it resembles somewhat of a cliffhanger! :) And I hope you enjoy it!  
I really hope Teru doesn't come across as a Mary-Sue...**

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_Asymmetry - Chapter 1_

_"Teru is six years older than I."_

* * *

Early next morning, they arrived at the village. No one was really there or took notice of them. Confused, Misao turned to Kyo and asked, "Where is everyone?"

It was Sagami who explained as Kyo bowed his head. "They are mourning right now, hime-sama. The patrol ambush left seven tengu dead. Also, we didn't inform the previous previous head that we would be coming back, much less arriving today."

"Ah, so, is he—" Misao meant to bring up the topic of the injured tengu, but they were interrupted by a surprised gasp and a 'Ryou-san!'

Ayame approached the party with a mirthful smile and hugged Sagami. "Are you all here to visit Teru?"

Kyo nodded. "Where are all of the injured? Is that where Teru is?"

"No, Teru requested to recuperate back home."

"Stubborn tengu," Misao heard Kyo mutter.

The petite tengu led them down the streets and around a corner. They passed by the Hiyokuin children playing in the puddles, all of them delightful as they caught sight of Misao. Then, the group veered slightly down a path into the gardens near where Ayame resided. Misao, surprised, looked over the gardens again. _Does he live close to Ayame? Wouldn't this be considered a woman's place? _If he was a pervert too…

The part came to a stop before closed doors. Ayame cautiously slid them open, calling out tentatively, "Teru? Are you awake?" When there was no answer, Ayame called louder, "Teru? Teru, there are people to see you!"

"People that should have waited at the front gate," a voice grumbled from behind them. "I was going to greet you, you know. But then I found absolutely no one or thing there except two long crow feathers."

Kyo turned and Misao did hesitantly as well, still keeping her gaze glued to the wooden floor uncomfortably. "How did you know we were coming?" Kyo asked.

"Only you would have been dull enough to respond to the summons that intrinsically asked you to come home after we've been _attacked_," the voice replied, laughing.

The laugh had a nice ring to it, like church bells resonating easily through the air. Misao looked up at the feminine sound. What she saw, however, was a person draped carelessly in her own hakama—_but if she was a woman, why was she wearing a __hakama?__—_and she yawned. Stripes of bandages adorned her head, covering her left eye. Her right was clear as day, grey as a stormy sky. And she was a _woman!_

"Teru," Kyo greeted cheerfully, and Misao stiffened. "Long time no see. You look like shit."

"Long time no see," the woman acknowledged. _Teru?_ Misao thought incredulously. "I would say the same for you. It seems that some people _don't_ change over the years."

Buzen chuckled while Kyo glared at her playfully. "Say that again?" he snarled.

She pulled the fold of her hakama upright and pulled strands of light hair from her neck. "Still handsome as ever, Kyo-sama," she answered innocuously, bowing. "You all came this far to visit me?"

Ayame smiled at her and slid the door fully open for everyone to enter. "You _were_ very brave, after all."

"We were ambushed," Teru replied tiredly, sliding the door closed once everyone was seated inside. "There wasn't anything brave about sticking my katana into the first thing I saw."

As everyone seated themselves in the room, Misao came to terms with the shock she hadn't expected. The person who was supposed to be 'Soujou'…was a woman? How could this have been? All of the women that she had seen in the tengu village were relatively passive and peaceful, never bothering to take up a sword to the belt.

"How bad is your eyesight?" Sagami asked.

"I can only see six hundred feet beyond where I stand. Then everything starts to get blurry," Teru responded. Her hand went up to peel her bandage off. IN the light of the sun, her pale hand gleamed silver as she turned away from the blinding light, pulling the bandage away from her face. It revealed a bruise on her left temple, a splotch of discord on her immaculate face. Then she saw Misao and her grey eyes widened. She bowed with a smile, looking down at the floor, and greeted Misao as she raised her head. "Welcome, hime-sama. I'm sorry to have been so rude before for not noticing your presence." She turned to Kyo. "I thought I detected the scent of peaches. I assumed it to be coming from you."

"Well, now that we've here," Kyo announced, "I've been meaning to ask you. Do you think your eyesight will recover?"

_With my blood, _Misao thought, but to her surprise, Teru didn't even glance to her, but closed her eyes with a helpless smile and sighed. "I don't know. I cannot fly in this condition, so there's no chance of—"

"Put that aside," he snapped. "I'm not here to bug you about joining my Eight Great. I want to know if you'll recover."

"I don't know," Teru repeated firmly. "I haven't asked them to properly examine my eyesight."

Kyo sighed in frustration. "You need to—no, you _will_ visit the healer tomorrow. As your clan leader, I demand it of you."

"You're joking."

"I'm not."

"There are still an abundance of people wounded in the village!"

"And there will be more if you don't hurry up and recuperate! You're not doing anyone favors by prolonging your absence at the healing wing!"

Teru laughed. She _laughed! _"You haven't changed. Did Sagami teach you to use that tongue?"

Kyo smirked, and like that, the tension was dissolved. "I learned a few tricks myself," he joked, winking at Misao.

Misao immediately flushed and slapped him. "You pervert!"

* * *

"Teru-san, you know how to play mahjong?" Misao asked, sitting between Teru and Hoki at the square table.

Teru shrugged, brushing hair back from her face. "I played it when I was younger, but I didn't really get into it until my teens."

Now that she mentioned 'teen's, Misao wondered about her age. "How old are you, Teru-san?" she questioned timidly, just as Buzen slammed down a tile and grinned at Zenki, who scowled.

She smiled, opening her mouth to answer, when suddenly, Zenki called a pung on her. She glared from across the table. "Bastard…" then she turned to Misao apologetically. "Pardon, hime-sama, I didn't hear you right the first time."

"Ah, I asked who the best at mahjong was," Misao replied, smiling nervously. _She couldn't ask such a straightforward question!_

Teru pursed her lips in thought. "I would say…Hoki or Kyo-sama."

"What about Jiro?"

She laughed. "Beginner's luck. No one can understand his discards or what he needs to complete his hand. For more experienced players," Teru noted, casting aside a white tile, "we always rely on deciphering our opponents' movements. Such as, if he needed a red dragon, or she required a one of circles." She gestured to the white tile she discarded, the red 'middle' in Zenki's discards, and the green 'prosperity' in Hoki's slender hand. "Those are dragons," she explained patiently.

"Kyo doesn't want me to play," Misao said quietly.

"Ah, if you played, he would purposely try to lose. His very presence disturbs the tiles when he's railing for a win. No one's hand will come together, except for Hoki, who is perfectly fine with slowing building it until he draws the reflection of the moon from the seabed…"

"That's poetic," Hoki responded, laughing. "But that only happened once."

"I beg to differ!" Buzen interjected. "Twice. It happened _twice_."

"Not mere chance," Zenki added, huffing. "Oh, and pung."

"Why not go for seven pairs?" Teru mumbled.

Zenki shot her a pointed look. "Last time I tried and kept getting damn kong. I ended up with three kongs and _nothing_."

Buzen snorted and chuckled. "That was the day Kyo-sama tried to get Sagami to play."

Hoki allowed a small smile. "Nii-san's luck is remarkably horrible. His hand just won't come together when he plays. The only time he ever won…"

"…was against me," Teru finished. "Robbed my kong for his damn Thirteen Orphans, which I have yet to figure how he _got_."

"And that was it," Zenki concluded. "Poor guy lost to his younger brother so many times."

Misao couldn't help but laugh along with them. Even though she had just met Teru today, she felt welcome, watching them play mahjong swiftly and decisively. She reflected later that day that their playing styles were influenced somewhat by their character. Zenki, who looked at discards solely, easily determined what the other party needed. But his own discards were messy and misleading, and he picked up tiles with a slack grip as if he had forever and then some to do it. Buzen never utilized a pung, chow, or kong, and simply won the match while self-drawing the tile he needed from the wall, as if relying on himself was the way to function. Hoki took up tiles like a sword in his hand, with a light, flexible grip. To attack or not to attack? To discard or not to discards? And the discards he took, pungs, chows, where suits were involved, commonly came from Teru. His hand was graceful, lined with winds, dragons, all three suits, with flowers placed lazily before him. Truly, he had won most of the matches. Teru had a preference for discarding every tile of a certain suit that she didn't want, mingling it with other tiles. By the end of her match, her entire hand either consisted of bamboos, characters, or winds and dragons. She didn't like circles unless she had to use them as one of seven pairs. Her hands were constantly concealed, and always a potentially dangerous one.

Seeing the expression on Misao's face when she saw Teru's hand, Teru smiled. "Hands, for me, always start out pretty badly. That leaves more possibility."

"Why can't you play circles?" she wondered.

The next round, as it was coming to a close, as Teru had promised, she showed Misao why she couldn't play circles. As she revealed her hand for everyone to see, Buzen snorted, Zenki snickered, and Hoki shook his head, smiling. The hand was absolutely **junk**.

Hoki held up his winning tile, a four of characters, as Teru pouted.

"I hate circles," she said to Misao, "because my hand always ends up like _this_." She gestured to how only three sets added up together to be the first nine cardinal numbers in bamboos, but the rest were in complete disarray. She glared teasingly at Hoki. "That guy always has the tiles that I need, damn it. And he takes my discards without a thought."

"I pick up the pieces of your broken body," he joked, and Teru laughed, handing him another piece of pocky to add to his uneaten pile.

"Well, at least I dislike pocky." Teru turned to Misao with a smile. "Would you like to play?"

Misao, unsure, nodded unconsciously.

Teru grinned devilishly. 'I'll help you win them from _him_."

Hoki held his hands up in a gesture of truce, smiling. "Don't I get any other reward besides the pocky stick? I did win off of _your_ discarded tile."

Teru rolled her eyes and gestured for him to lean over. And right in front of Misao, Teru kissed Hoki on the cheek. Hoki sat back with a childishly satisfied expression, and Teru shook her head, laughing. Misao stared at the two in shock.

Come to think of it, when they rotated seats randomly, Teru always sat next to Hoki. There had only been two games where they sat apart from each other. Buzen saw Misao's expression and chuckled at it.

"It's a form of teasing and endearment between the two," he explained softly. "They played together when they were younger."

Misao nodded, glancing to Hoki—then raking her gaze over Teru's youthful face. She didn't look like the laidback type at first—she had more of the cool beauty that Sagami had and Hoki would surely have. Not to mention the fact that she was a little taller than Zenki. To think that the two had played together when there was such a height difference? It was a bit hard to believe.

* * *

"Come back to visit tomorrow," Teru suggested, yawning, and ushered them out the door. The bandage was over her right eye this time, since she was only sparingly using one eye for every five hours.

As the door slid shut behind them, Misao turned to Hoki. "Hoki-san," she said tentatively. "Are you and Teru-san…?" She couldn't find the right words to use. _Good friends_ wouldn't get the point across and was fairly obvious; _lovers_ might offend and was too straightforward and insolent.

But instead, Zenki supplied, "Lovers?" as Buzen slipped off to meet his girlfriend with a chuckle.

Hoki stared at him blankly, then Misao. "No, hime-sama…we aren't." He smiled faintly at her. "Why do you ask?"

"You seem very close to her."

"I assure you we're nothing more than good, if not close, friends."

Zenki coughed, and it suspiciously sounded as if he had said, "Like hime-sama and Kyo-sama?"

For the first time, Hoki had a faint, nearly imperceptible shade of red staining his cheeks. "No!" he exclaimed, as Misao flushed. "It's not like that."

"Hey!" Misao protested.

Hoki glanced apologetically to her. "I mean no offense, hime-sama, but Teru and I don't have that intimate a relationship."

"Contrary to that night in the garden on the day of the festival—" Zenki said innocently.

"You were drunk. And we weren't in the garden."

"Aha! But you were with her, and it's the fact that you were that counts!"

Hoki's cheeks now looked miserably red as he shook his head. He knelt down at Misao's feet—along with Zenki—with a feeble smile and said, "It is quite impossible for us to be like that, hime-sama."

"Why, Hoki-san? Can't love conquer all?"

Zenki laughed. "You might say different when you learn of the circumstances of this _forbidden love_, hime-sama."

"Forbiddn love?" Misao echoed.

Hoki sighed. "Teru is six years older than I."


End file.
